Burns scholar Roy honored by University of Glasgow

Dr. G. Ross Roy, one of the world’s foremost authorities on 18th-century Scottish poet Robert Burns, was awarded the degree Doctor of Letters from the University of Glasgow on June 17, the Scottish university’s annual Commemoration Day.

The award recognizes Roy, an emeritus professor of English at the University of South Carolina, and his contributions to the understanding and advancement of Scottish literature.

“Professor Roy is one of the greatest Burns scholars of the modern era,” said Dr. Gerard Carruthers, head of Glasgow’s Scottish Literature department. It was already Glasgow University’s privilege to have him as an Honorary Research Fellow. “The award of this doctorate to him furthers the association and is a source of great pride to us here at Glasgow.”

After the award ceremony, the Scottish Arts Council announced a new annual award, the Ross Roy Medal, a prize that will be given annually to a student at a Scottish university for the best essay in Scottish literature.

In April, Roy was awarded South Carolina’s Order of the Palmetto at an international conference hosted by the University of South Carolina to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns.

Roy is credited for having founded the leading academic journal in Scottish literature in 1963. Scottish Literature publishes scholarly articles from the medieval period through the 20th century.

He also amassed the world’s largest collection of Robert Burns and Scottish literature materials, which he donated to the University of South Carolina’s libraries upon his retirement in 1989. Some of the finest elements of the G. Ross Roy Collection of Burnsiana & Scottish Literature have been digitized and made available via the Web for use by scholars, students and Burns enthusiasts around the world.